


Crossing the Barrier

by SincerelyV



Series: Door Number Two [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camila goes through the door au, Camila realizes her daughter is missing, Gen, Grom AU, Not Canon Compliant, she doesn’t take it well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28829481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SincerelyV/pseuds/SincerelyV
Summary: Camila sighs, pulls out her phone, and dials Luz’s number again as she continues down the street. Wherever she is, Camila trusts her daughter to keep herself safe; what she doesn’t trust is Luz’s ability to stay out of trouble.Like the dozen other times Camila has called, the call goes straight to voicemail, where Luz’s voice her instructs to,“leave a message, bro!”before beeping.“Call. Me,” she repeats for the hundredth time, then hangs up.
Relationships: Camila Noceda & Luz Noceda
Series: Door Number Two [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2133471
Comments: 12
Kudos: 84





	Crossing the Barrier

**Author's Note:**

> Back when the trailer for the second half of season one dropped, I saw the scene of Camila coming through the door and had several thoughts all at once. Obviously all those were almost immediately proven wrong, but still, I wrote this and decided I should finally post it anyway. Canon divergence from just before Grom onward, enjoy!

Luz isn’t answering her phone.

In theory, this isn’t unusual. There used to be days that she would take hours to respond, start typing, then take another hour before actually sending the message. On its own, this was nothing to worry about, Camila knows this.

However, when there is an unanswered voicemail sitting in her inbox saying that Luz never arrived at camp- now she worries.

The voicemail came during Camila’s shift at the hospital. A blessing in disguise, really, had she been able to answer right then, there most likely would have been more cursing than speaking. On the other end, had been a tired sounding woman, calling regarding Luz’s absence at camp and whether she would like a refund sent over, _a_ _week after camp had begun._

Until that moment, Camila had never understood the feeling of having her heart stop in her chest, she had dealt with enough hiccups over time to take life in stride. Freezing up at the first sign of trouble, especially in the operating room, led down dangerous paths if she wasn’t careful.

Every time her friends had discussed how their children were able to make their heart pound with nothing but a sideways glance, she would laugh. Luz could be a handful at times (many, many times), but Camila couldn’t recall a moment she had felt her heart truly stop.

This time, though, she felt it. Camila’s heart froze inside her chest, the blood drained from her face. Luz wasn’t at camp and she certainly wasn’t at home. 

If she had never made it to camp, that made it likely Luz had never set foot on the bus. Meaning she hadn’t run away from camp, thankfully, but also- where could she have gone?

She doesn’t know where her daughter is and now Luz isn’t answering her. Of course she isn’t. Answering would be too easy, too simple. Too _not_ Luz.

It’s almost as if she _knows_. Which begs the question: how long had Luz planned to keep this up? She must have known camp would call, eventually. What then? 

What _now_?

Camila sighs, pulls out her phone, and dials Luz’s number again as she continues down the street. Wherever she is, Camila trusts her daughter to keep herself safe; what she doesn’t trust is Luz’s ability to stay out of trouble. 

Like the dozen other times Camila has called, the call goes straight to voicemail, where Luz’s voice her instructs to, “ _l_ _eave a message, bro!”_ before beeping.

“Call. Me,” she repeats for the hundredth time, then hangs up. 

Shoving her hands in her pockets, Camila pauses as she realizes she had passed the house by nearly a block. 

She turns to head back, she still needs to call the camp, and nine-one-one, and Luz, again- then froze as what could only be a small owl hops down the sidewalk with...were those her keys?

“Hey!”

The owl freezes, head tilting, before it continues to hop down the sidewalk, this time twice as fast as before, her keys dangling from its beak.

So, not only is her daughter suddenly missing, but she’s also getting robbed by an owl. Not for the first time, Camila wonders if she should have stayed in bed that morning.

As the owl makes its escape, Camila barrels after it. Chasing after a rogue owl on a busy street isn’t her finest moment, but given the way her day has been going, she thinks she deserves a pass. 

This also means that, when the owl disappears into the abandoned house she always warned Luz not to go in as a kid, she doesn’t hesitate to dart in after it. 

The door shuts with a heavy thud behind her. The dust settles and, after a moment, she realizes that the owl has vanished. In the silence, she can’t hear the telltale clack of talons against old wood. In fact, she can’t hear much of anything, beyond the sound of her own heavy panting filling up the small space.

She spins around, scanning the floor, and spots her keys, abandoned in the center of the room. The owl must have dropped them on its way up to the rafters, then couldn’t come back down when she came in. 

She snatches them up before any other birds can swoop in and steal them for their nests, then turns to leave. Camila takes a step toward the exit and immediately hits solid wood. 

Where before had been thin air, now sits an old door, which sits dead center of the room. An eye sits in the middle that seems to watch her every move. Around her, the rest of the house remains unchanged, unaware of the oddities happening within its walls.

Camila frowns. An odd, possibly magical door hidden in an abandoned house that supposedly leads to nowhere, just down the street from where her daughter was supposed to have been picked up? The scene has Luz written all over it and leaves no doubt in Camila’s mind that she is somewhere on the other side of this door.

She has to be.

Practically on cue, the door rattles, once, twice- before it creaks open as if to invite her inside. 

Stepping over the threshold is like...Well, like stepping into another world. Somewhere nearby, the murmur of a crowd rises up. The new room- tent?- is dimly lit and filled trinkets she would normally find in a thrift shop. Gaudy jewelry, busted tapes, chattering teeth…

Ahead of her, light filters in through the only other exit in the tent. If Luz really is in this place, Camila knows she will find her somewhere beyond that door. She had to.

Lifting the flap sent sunlight streaming directly into her eyes, temporarily blinding her. The noise, once a low din, now swept up and threatened to bowl her over.

The first thing she sees as her eyes adjusted is the crowd that hurries by, all in a rush to move on, just like back home except- these aren’t people, not all of them. Beasts shuffle by, all towering over her with horns, or extra eyes, or missing limbs.

Camila’s feet root to their spot as her heart shoots into her throat.

This isn’t... _home._ Not by a longshot. 

And her _daughter_ is here.

“Luz!” She shouts before she can stop herself.

In front of her, a figure, much closer than she had first thought whips around, followed by two others.

Luz’s eyes widen as she sees Camila, jaw dropping.

“Mom?”

**Author's Note:**

> Cue Luz’s heart attack and some choice words to Eda about taking in random teenagers. I like to think they work out a co-parenting plan and Luz teaches Camila a few spells later on.  
> If you like what you see here, leave a comment and/or drop by my [tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pastthebutterflies) We’re all stuck waiting for season two together and I’d love to talk about it!


End file.
